The Full Picture of Passover
We have a fair grasp of the Passover lamb, and that Jesus is the typification of that lamb,3 but what about Passover? For a decade I have had the immense privilege of leading entire congregations through the Seder (meal), and watched as ancient traditions once considered dead and legalistic become living reality in the lives of believers. I have also known one family to become so enthused after experiencing a Passover Seder, as to completely change their lives, enroll in seminary, move to Israel, and go into Jewish ministries. And I have watched still others being transformed from men and women who were hesitant toward the Jewish people, to embracing them with a love exemplified by Jesus himself.
The enormity of the task, explaining Passover, is beyond the scope of this article. The subject consumes shelves of books. For our benefit, we shall focus on two things: the paschal lamb, and the unleavened bread—and as our lesson unfolds, we’ll find how the two became one.
Imagine if you can, that you are there. Mentally transport yourself back two thousand years to Jerusalem, at the time of Passover. Being one of the three pilgrim festivals when all men were to make sacrifices at the Temple, the city is bustling. The streets and markets are alive with sound, mercantile exchange, and anticipation. God’s Passover is at hand!
On Nisan 10 in the Hebraic calendar, the sacrificial lambs were lead into Jerusalem through the Sheep’s Gate.4 These were the animals raised specifically5 to be purchased for the required Passover sacrifices.
Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, “On the tenth of this month they are each one to take a lamb for themselves, according to their fathers” households, a lamb for each household … Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month, then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel is to kill it at twilight.
(Exodus 12:3-6).
If you were the patriarch of your home, the father or grandfather, you were required to go to the Temple and purchase one of these young animals for your household.6 You would walk to the Temple Mount and find an available Levite to assist you. He would walk the flocks looking for just the right sheep or goat. When he would find a yearling he felt was suitable for you, he would announce, “Behold, the lamb.”7
After making your purchase, you would pick up this frail creature and carry it home. For the next three days, it would live with you in your house. This was so you could inspect it thoroughly for blemishes, diseases, bruises, and the like. If any of these were found, the lamb was disallowed for sacrifice.8 Generally, however, they had been carefully scrutinized by the Temple priests, and suitability was not a problem.
Category: Biblical Studies, Summer 1999